Deja Vu - Waco II

Hello Folks;

    Texas, the home of the two George Bush families and the now infamous slaughter of 81 church members of the Branch Dividians in Waco, perpetrated by Federal and State authorities on pure pretext, is now the site of a second attack by State religious police against a non-mainstream religious organization.

Let me preface this commentary by stating that I categorically reject and decry child abuse in any form. That being put to rest, I will continue by suggesting that the actions of the authorities in the State of Texas, by police, using armored personnel carriers, SWAT Teams, machine guns, shotguns, and massive force, in attacking the FDLS created town in El Dorado, Texas, reeks of the similar attacks of Hitler's Storm Trooper atrocities on Jewish ghettos in Europe at the outset of World War II.

The excuse was an unidentified and still unknown, purported 16 year old girl's phone call to authorities wherein she stated she was married to an older man, had a child, and was pregnant with another.

Without making any attempt to verify the caller's veracity, state authorities swooped down on the FDLS people, grabbed up 416 children and many women, ripping up families, and isolating the children away from their mothers and traumatizing all of them; all without substantiating the original claim.

If you had any shred of thinking the Bill of Rights was still in effect, this should more than adequately demonstrate it is dead in Texas.

The folly of this is evident. Let me tell you why.

Pick any large city in America and look at the birth statistics of babies born to underage black girls. It is phenomenally high, yet you don't see massive attacks on those housing projects by police and child welfare authorities rounding up all the children and removing them from their families, do you? Nope. Ditto the Los Angeles area or even , dare we mention the Texas cities of Dallas, Houston and Fort Worth, where Latino birth statistics are equally high. It isn't happening.

What is the difference? I suggest the difference is the authorities perspective on what constitutes an "acceptable" religion...or not, and what political gains can be realized from demonizing a particular group based on the acts of a few of that group.

Texas has shown that fundamental fairness and "equal under the law" have no meaning to Texas officials.

The lack of public outrage and censure after Waco ratified and condoned vicious and unprovoked attacks on groups whose religious beliefs are outside the mainstream religious beliefs of Texas authorities. The lack of repercussions removed any barriers to this latest onslaught.

It is appropriate to add that the complicity of the mainstream media is equally reprehensible. The talking heads bleat the party line and add to exacerbating and encouraging the unforgivable abuse of authority by using inflammatory rhetoric, and totally ignoring the outrage against the Bill of Rights and the rights and sanctity of those families who had done no wrong.

The characterization of the FDLS town went from "ranch" to "compound" overnight. The broad brush inclusion of all in the FDLS belief system as guilty at the outset added fuel to the fire.

The mealy-mouth weaseling of Texas authorities making as if yet unsubstantiated claims are not vetted by the press, but given veracity by constant repetition, coupled with the embellishment by editors and writers fighting for audience share, clearly yellow dog running journalism at its worst.

The bottom line is that if this deplorable state of affairs is not met by a tidal wave of public protest, 416 children will be permanently traumatuzed and be made wards of an out of control state agency, and the families destroyed.

Folks, the State of Texas has pepetrated child abuse of a massive and unprecedented scale in this country, not seen since the days of slavery.

Now do you see why "The No Vote Party" is the only answer? This is why we should fire 'em all!

D. Tom